Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

MKE originated in 1920 as Hamilton Airport, established by local businessman and aviator Thomas F. Hamilton. On October 19th, 1926, the airport was purchased by Milwaukee County, and it was promptly renamed Milwaukee County Airport. In June 1927, the first terminal opened, named the Hirschbuehl Farmhouse. Northwest Airlines began to service the airport that month, while Kohler Aviation Corporation started to provide passenger service across Lake Michigan on August 31st, 1929. The Works Progress Administration constructed a new two-story terminal building between 1938 and July 1940. On March 17th, 1941, the airport was renamed General Mitchell Field after Milwaukee native Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, who is often regarded as the father of the U.S. Air Force. On July 20th, 1955, the present-day terminal opened, and it was renovated and expanded in 1985, with larger shops and a more extensive ticketing and baggage claim area.
Furthermore, in 1990 the "hammerhead" section of Concourse D was added, with 16 additional gates. In 1985, the airport was renamed the General Mitchell International Airport. The airport was once a hub for AirTran Airways, Frontier Airlines, Midwest Airlines, and North Central Airlines. The runway safety area at MKE was expanded following an accident on January 21st, 2007, when a Northwest Airlines flight skidded off the runway following an aborted takeoff. As such, the construction of the safety areas began in 2009 and was completed in 2012. Eight more gates were added to Concourse C in 2007.
Furthermore, all airlines housed in Concourse E began moving to Concourse C in April 2017, allowing for Concourse E's remodeling. This move would also allow for moving the processing of international arrival into the terminal (which would allow for the closure of the International Arrivals Building). In February 2019, the airport was renamed Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, which was meant to highlight the airport's location.

The airport is located 5.8 miles south of downtown Milwaukee.

• The terminal houses the Mitchell Gallery of Flight, a nonprofit museum. Furthermore, there is a branch of Renaissance Books at the terminal, considered the world's first used book store in an airport. 
• Within the security area, there is a large "peace mural" created by the Soviet citizens of Leningrad (modern-day St. Petersburg, Russia), which was exchanged for an equivalent clay mural made by Americans. Unfortunately, the American mural was covered up during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. 
• Since March 1941, the airport's weather station has been used as the official point for Milwaukee weather observations and records by the National Weather Service. 
• MKE is host to the General Mitchell Air National Guard Base, home to the 128th Air Refueling Wing, an Air Mobility Command gained unit of the Wisconsin Air National Guard.